Nick55

Sometimes a good deal, sometimes not. St. Thomas is always an amazing place to buy watches (I collect watches as a hobby). Imperial Jewelers has been always the cheapest (you have to press them, but they always deliver with the best price).

But- on my last cruise, the ship offered a new line of Bulova Curv watches (one of Bulova's higher end new watches) that they offered on one of their single day sales. I passed on it at first, then spent the next 4 days regretting it. With nothing better to do with myself, i called and googled dealers I know, in the carribean, and in the states, and no online or brick and morter source was near the "deal" they offered. On the 6th day, my wife noticed they offered the sale again for a 6 hour sale and i grabbed it quick!

I have checked regularly ever since and have not seen it available for the price i got on the cruise ship during that sale. You must do your research and know your prices, but they sometimes do offer the best price, Especially on a new line of watches not yet widely available.

Also, i was a hero from the sale, One of my free drawing tickets i got from buying the watch, won my dw a bunch of free stuff in the gift shops. She was happier than i was about the watch!

We won a free 7 day cruise on bingo. Had a year to take it and booked a Western Carribean balcony cabin. Great deal, but we did not get points for the cruise. Since you don't pay for it, you do not get the points. Keep in mind, it a free cruise!

We were just on the Grandeur for the Canada & New England on July 27th. and really loved the ports and the ship in general. Arranged a private tour driver for our group of 4 in Boston (an amazing private tour), rented a car for Halifax, and just loved each port and the views each day. Saw 3 or 4 whales, hundred or more dolphins, couple of Bald Eagles, and a few REALLY large sharks. Had amazing weather and some of the calmest seas we have ever had on any of our cruises.

After 15 cruises across various cruise lines, I would have to say the MDR food was a big disappointment. We ate in specialty restaurants 7 out of 10 nights. Food at the specialty restaurants was very good, but not exceptional, and disappointed us that we had to pay $150+ each to get meals that we should have been able to enjoy for free. We did the lobster lunch all you can eat buffet, with lobster tails, filet, caviar, salmon and lots more (great value and worth the extra money), and the all you can drink Champagne brunch (nothing special and honestly a waste of money except it does include a brief tour of the kitchen). We also did the sushi making class and it was one of the best experiences of the cruise. You actually can learn enough to make sushi when you get home (we have done it twice since the cruise). The MDR staff was very good, but service cannot make up for the disappointing food.

Not trying to bash the kitchen, but all 10 of our tablemates, had the same disappointments and many nights all of the couples at our table dined seperatly at either the specialty restaurants or the buffet as we would find out when we ran into them throughout the ship or at shore.

Overall we had a great time, the deluxe drink package was amazing and the bartenders and servers never gave us a hassle and drinks flowed apleanty. Starbucks was great, but freezer for ben and jerrys was broke and left them with crystalized ice cream for a few days when they finally got it fixed.

Amazing job getting onto the ship and leaving the ship. So much better organized, and much faster than Carnival out of the same port. A major vote here for RCI.

Crew did a good job, we would definatly return as the port of Baltimore is very convienient, but we would plan extra cash for the specialty restaurants, and just avoid the disappointment in the MDR.

We just got off the 03/22 sailing and unlike the OP we found the ship in really good shape. Our room, all of the common areas, the public bathrooms, hallways, dining and pool areas were all clean, smelled ok, and we did not see any area, that maintenance was needed as some have commented. Our experience in the MDR was exceptional, our room was in very good shape and service was above average. We didn't love everything in the Horizon Court, didn't love all of the entertainment, but generally we really enjoyed the cruise.

Sorry the OP had the issues in their specific interactions on the ship, but luckily we didn't run into any of those issues on our cruise. We met a lot of great passegers, enjoyed some really good meals, had some of the best service in our 11 previous cruises, and overall had a really good cruise.

Glad we were there a week earlier!

Are those he same menu's from yesterday?

They just let go of the lines. Guess they are leaving

We were surprised to find a number of the ports virtually closed for good friday and easter. It didn't dawn on us when booking the cruise that many carribean islands are very christian and therefore a lot of the islanders don't work on these days. While our tours did occur, most restaurants, bars, and stores were closed. We did have our tour on good friday adjusted for one of the stops that was closed. Not saying this will be a concern for everyone, but something to consider when booking a spring tour in the islands.

We still had a good time, but it was just unusual seeing everything so quiet. Not like the USA where we would never have a holiday interfere with tourism... Lol

We have recently taken a couple of Carnival cruises and were surprised at the fun we had. As i near 60, we have enjoyed all of the differences in each of the cruise lines we have sailed on in the past few years. After having some equipment cancelations we quickly rebooked at the last minute on carnival and were pleasantly surprised. While i do think Princess offers a better dining experience, i'm not sure it is worth $700 each.

We found ourselves enjoying the increased activities on Carnival and their pizza was hands down the best we have had on any cruise line. Carnival has more venues open all night or later in the night, but princess is a little more laid back. one big thing we enjoyed more on Carnival was the free adults only area for lounging.

We have a princess cruise booked for March that we had booked over a year ago. We considered canceling when we compared rates and it to, was almost $500 more on Princess per person than the same cruise on Carnival for the same cabin level. We just had a price drop and the difference faded away, so we are going to rejoin the princess life.

They are very different cruises, but you can do a second cruise somewhere for the $1,400 you save, if you find the right cruise with the recent rates they have been offering.

Either way - have a great cruise

The waterfall and mud baths were included when we went in March 2014. Here was no extra charge.

On our Cosol tour, their was no extra charge to go into the mud bath or to walk under the waterfall. You don't have "lots of extra time" but we did get enough for anyone who wanted, to take advantage of both. They send you in the exit to avoid the lines and ticket booths. It is handled by your driver.

La casada blanca. It is a short cab ride but if you want great authentic food, that is the best in town. Great prices and unbelievable reviews

We usually stay at the Caribe when we are there. I wouldnt waste the money for the ocean view as the balconys are so small and it is a great place to go out and sit on the walkway, or lay in a hammock on the beach

Try sj suites. Its only a couple of blocks from the port. It was not fancy, but rooms were clean, workers were very friendly and helpfull, and very convienent to stores and restaurants in old San Juan.

I have been cruising since 1977 (Mardi Gras) and have also done the Norway during its early days with NCL. While i cherish the experiences, younger folks need to remember we didn't know what a Big Mac was yet. When you ate in the dining room at 21 on a cruise, everything was amazing and new. There were very few or no mexican, sushi, indian, texmex, fusion, tai, vietnamese, or fresh seafood dining experiences for most people in the 70's and early 80's. I had never had calimari, mussels, lobster, clams, or filet when i took my first cruise. Nobody knew what a latte was and bananas foster or baked alaska were for dinners at the four seasons or la fontaine.

We are very different now in our expectation and experiences. I think the illusion that we look for when looking back, would really be tainted by what we now expect for dining and vacation choices. Now i am looking for every meal to be a crisp new food experience, while reality says that it is impossible to find a new fresh concept for a ship with 3000 passengers. My teens ate more exotic food than burgers in high school. while i was in my mid 20's before wendys founded the square burger and pizza pizza was still a faint dream in fast food future.

I have sailed on a number of different cruise lines and ships and just like my daily dining and vacation experiences, i cannot justify eating at The French Laundry every night while visiting Napa Valley. I'm not afraid to over indulge, but i'm not sure that the narrow hallways, stepping over the doorway passing each water tight door, watching the curtains sway (ala the posideon adventure) while watching a movie, having most tablemates not be well enough to have dinner in modest seas, and long long lines during boarding and unboarding.

These old ships were great workhorses on an ocean voyage, but even the Norway couldn't keep up with the beautiful public spaces on the new cruise ships. It had great art deco history but no, large multi-station buffets, no theaters with unblocked sight lines, no wide public areas with 100 foot ceilings, no kids pool experience, chef demonstration theater, skating rink, ropes course, anytime dining, no healthy, vegan, low sodium, glutin free, or sugar free dining choices.

I love the thought of the old days, but i used to like egging cars too. I have moved on and honestly i love the new more casual experience more where nobody makes me wear my tux, unless i want to. (Which i do!).

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The valor is a great ship, even without the ports the port of San Juan is wonderful and the crew is very good on this ship. We have sailed her twice and highly recommend it as a choice. You won't be disappointed.

We did the cosol tour and loved it. A great way to see a beautiful island, try some food, see cool sites, a beach, ride in a boat and drink all you can drink! Well worth the money. I think it is a must do trio in St lucia.

I want to know, if OP was so sick, why she was at the spa at all. I guess if i was sick on the cruise i would have kept myself mainly at my room to keep everyone else from coming in contact from my germs. It seems that a lot of people would have been exposed to germs from her use of the facilities. Just a thought......

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Pick up the pistachio liquor. It looks gross, but is really amazing if served really cold. Don't use ice, cause it really coats the ice cubes and thickens onto them. It is really wierd. But it is great if you cool it in the fridge. Very hard to find anywhere else.

We took a cab to the local supermarket just a little way from the cruise pier. We got 1 lb bags of whole bean JBM 100% for $12.00 each. We filled a suitcase! It was a great year back home!

A few weeks ago, we dropped off our luggage aroung 11am and boarded about 30 minutes later. We among the first in line.

You can see the menu's at the link below

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/CarnivalCruiseLineMenus.htm

Considering Cosol for our excursion in St. Lucia. Will this hold the interest of a 14 and 12 year old? They would love to zipline, but I can't afford to pay that much, especially since we will zipline in NC later in the summer for half the cost. So, would Cosol tours be fun for this age?

We really enjoyed the Cosol tour. There were many cool things that i think any teen would enjoy. The boat trip, the banana farm, the food buffet, the beach time, volcano, mud bath, waterfall.

An earlier post said they didn't go into the mud bath. Not sure if this is common, but we had 1/2 of our van mates, jump into the mud baths and had pleanty of time to do it. cosol is a very good excursion. A great model for other islands and operators.

We did the United States dining 4 times on our cruise. It was the best specialty dining experience we have had to date on a ship. In our experience the service and all of the food was exceptional. The more we dined there the better the experience was...

The ship excursion we were on was one of the catamaran snorkle with the turtles and beach excursion, which included beer or rum punch. They supplied mask, snorkle and vest to passengers, (we and others had our own equipment). There were a number of boats from various companies all congregating near the turtles. Some allowed fins. Some did not. Some allowed them at the beach only, ours did not allow them at any stop.

In regards to the comment about using fins by the turtles. I get that! And can agree with that. We are big outdoor people and would not want to do anything to harm them. Our point was that, had the cruise excursion staff told us BEFORE we bought the excursion, instead of after, we could have chosen to snorkle at another port - no harm - no foul. When they told us, after paying, as they gave us our tickets, we immediatly tried to change to a different type of tour and they told us they were going to charge us a penalty, as we were within the 24 hours for changes. It just didn't make sense to us, we literally paid 2 minutes earlier.

We have fairly good experience snorkling but we saw a number of people who were not strong swimmers struggling in 40' deep waters trying to swim against the current, due to not having the use of fins. It was a little windy and just seemed to be a lot of effort for snorkling that is not usually an issue for ship excursions. I don't think anyone was ever in danger, but it just seemed that a lot of people returned to the catamaran immediatly after going out due to the effort to swim against the current without fins that far from shore. We just wanted to mention our concerns so that novice swimmers take that into account when deciding what excursions you book on a port intensive trip.

We did snorkle excursions on other islands and had a great time, just not on this one in barbados. We typically get great help from ship excursion staff, just not this time. Also, they had 2 people working at the desk and we were the only people there. So it was not a problem with being too busy, it was just a trip up that i hope they fix for other passengers. Another learning experience for us, we never thought to ask about equipment as we had never had a previous snorkle trip that didn't allow you to use fins. Now we know to ask (before we pay).

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We did a barbados excursion in March 2014, and found out after paying for it we could not use our fins at any stop, at the beach or out with the turtles. We were really disappointed. We tryed to change excursions but they were going to charge us a fee for switching. They didn't give us a reason for not allowing it, but when we got to the boat the captain also said they do not allow it. When we arrived at the two locations, other boats did have people with fins, but some other did not allow it either. We just wish the shore excursion desk had told us before we booked it instead of waiting to tell us after we paid for the excursion.